Down low
by irrevocablybroken
Summary: I'm not worried about my plan. I know it's foolproof. Except for that one part where the MI6 sends out a barely functioning agent. If he fucks this up, everything falls apart. Further chapters follow the events of Skyfall. Silva/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N**__: I'm going to start this story off with an author's note, to avoid possible complications. The main character, aside from Silva, will be Liz, my OC, whose past and life story will probably unravel as the story goes. That's all for now; enjoy :)_

As if the loud hum of the motorboat and the sound of waves crashing against its sides weren't distracting enough, Liz's heart pounded and pure adrenaline pumped through her veins. Maybe this whole escapade was a stupid idea. Irrational, yes. After all, Liz had dropped everything to venture out to the small island, that was getting closer as the boat cut through the water. But maybe it was just plain stupid. Maybe she was wrong.

_No_. She shook her head and tried to organize her thoughts. The information that she had ever so carefully collected led her here, so she would continue following the trail until she reached her target. _Her target_. Liz smiled to herself. If she was correct, he was alive and doing even better on his own than he had back at MI6. If she was correct, she would see him again.

What was it he called himself now?

Silva. Right.

The boat came to a halt by a makeshift dock. Liz switched the engine off and climbed out of the vessel, tucking her Walther into her back pocket in the process. She took a good look around, scanning the perimeter for any unwanted bystanders. The island was evidently deserted. The old, damaged buildings looked like they would crumble to dust any moment and the few weeds growing in the cracks on the sidewalk were dry and lifeless. There was no sign of life anywhere, let alone human life. Liz continued walking through the littered streets, every now and then stepping on a piece of shattered glass or a child's toy. It seemed as if the entire population of the island ceased to exist instantaneously. One moment they were here, then vanished without a trace. She entered a few of the abandoned houses, looking for anything that would confirm her suspicions. All she found was more rubble and shattered glass.

A few minutes passed, and Liz was beginning to doubt in the accuracy of her data. He had to be here. She was as brilliant as him when it came to computers, if not better. She had traced the signal to this very location, so he _had_ to be here. The scorching August sun only made her more irritable, but more determined to get this all over with as soon as possible.

A distant sound interrupted her thoughts. Some sort of melody was playing in the distance. Liz began to make her way toward its source. She wandered through a few small alleys, cluttered with various debris. After passing under a massive stone arch, she entered a vast, empty courtyard. An old song was blaring from rusted speakers, which were fastened to an equally rusted pole in the center of the clearing. There were no signs of people, but someone had to have played the music. Liz walked across the courtyard, past a cracked monument, to an open door that led into a tall concrete building.

Right as she was about to walk up the steps, someone roughly grabbed her shoulder. Acting on instinct, she drove her elbow into the attacker's gut. The man doubled over and Liz delivered a swift kick to his head, knocking him unconscious. She knelt down next to the limp body and turned it over. It wasn't him.

Liz checked the pockets of the man's jeans, but didn't find anything that could help her identify him or his reason for being here. She sighed, irritated, and stood up, readjusting her white blouse. She patted her back pocket to make sure her weapon was still there and walked up the stone steps.

The inside of this particular building was undoubtedly tidier than the interiors of other houses she'd searched. It looked almost habitable, if not for the bare walls and cold concrete flooring. Liz walked to the end of a long, dimly lit hallway, to a partly opened massive door and peered through the crack. There were racks of cables lining either side of a huge, otherwise empty room. She slowly opened the door wider, as to avoid unwanted noise, and slipped inside. A man sat in the corner, with his back to her, rapidly typing on one of the countless computers scattered about the room.

Despite not being able to see his face, Liz recognized the silhouette immediately. Broad shoulders, legs propped up nonchalantly on a chair, dressed as elegantly as ever. She smiled to herself again, this time feeling certainty and accomplishment. And he hadn't even noticed her.

She took a step away from the heavy door, and slammed it shut behind her to get his attention.

Silva whirled around in his seat, the shock on his face evident when he met her eyes.

"You know, Tiago," Liz smirked, "blonde doesn't suit you."

_**A/N**__: Yet another author's note. Umm… so that was chapter one. This is actually the first multi-chapter fic I've ever written, so we'll see how that turns out. I appreciate all constructive criticism _


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N_**_: I wasn't really expecting any sort of feedback, so I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to review or follow/fave the story :)_

Shouts from outside interrupted the uncomfortable silence filling the room. Other inhabitants of the island must have noticed the unconscious guard lying at the entrance to the building. It wasn't long before some men with guns burst into the room and surrounded Liz, aiming their weapons. To their surprise, she ignored them and glanced expectedly at Silva, an almost irritated look on her face. The blonde man stared back at her for a moment, before turning to his henchmen, "Leave us".

Looks of confusion fluttered across the guards' faces before they withdrew their guns and exited the building, shutting the doors as they left. Liz turned the key in the lock, to avoid more unnecessary disturbances.

She turned around to face Silva, who was still observing her with a nearly blank look in his eyes. This was something new to her. The man she remembered wasn't the easiest person to surprise; he required a significant shock to get into a state like this.

"You're not going to ask me to sit down, are you?" Liz questioned, a smirk once again tugging at her lips. Before Silva had the time to clear his mind and form any sort of coherent response, Liz continued, "didn't think so."

She walked across the room, grabbing a chair from a nearby desk and dragging it to where Silva was seated. She positioned the seat a few feet away from him and sat down.

The two people looked at each other for a moment. This time it was Silva who broke the silence.

"How are you alive?"

Liz gave him a look of disbelief and amusement, "Of all the things you could say, you choose to ask that. Then again, I could ask you the same."

She sighed and looked down.

"A few weeks after our capture I was released. Apparently, the MI6 had come to some sort of agreement with the Chinese. Me and a few other agents were traded back to the British side in exchange for some valuable information. After I was signed out of the hospital and debriefed, I asked about you. You weren't among the others that had been rescued," Liz took a deep breath, her hands fidgeting nervously in her lap, "they told me you were dead."

Her voice broke on the last word. She tried to mask her slip up by forcing a laugh, but the sound that came out sounded like a strained exhale.

"So when, last week, I came across the information that led me to believe you were here… alive…" Liz paused and looked up at Silva, who was watching her intently. She met his eyes, "I dropped everything with the hope that I was right. Literally everything. I had to drop off the face of the Earth, fake my own death, or they would have followed me here."

"And you're sure they didn't?"

"Absolutely certain."

Silva didn't seem utterly convinced.

"After all we've been through, Tiago, you should really know by now that I am perfectly capable of covering my tracks."

"I know you are," he thought for a moment, "so I take it you're here to stay?"

"Well, yes," Liz laughed, "I don't really have a place to go back to."

When Silva didn't reply, her smile faltered.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, of course not."

"Then what's wrong?"

Silva suddenly got up and began pacing, "You know, I don't know if you've noticed, but this is quite a lot to take in. Your…" he trailed off, "… partner disappears for 10 years, you're certain she's dead, and then she shows up, here, in the middle of nowhere and acts as if it was just yesterday that we saw each other last. So, please, forgive me if I'm acting out of the ordinary." The usual note of sarcasm in his voice was back, which made Liz's apprehension disperse. Silva walked over to the door, and motioned for Liz to follow him, "Come on."

It was near evening and the sun was beginning to set. They walked in silence to the other side of the courtyard, to some sort of lower class apartment building. The only sounds were quiet music, still playing from the speakers, and the sound of rubble crunching under their feet. Liz followed the blonde man into the elevator. A few floors up, they got out of the lift and made their way to a room at the end of the corridor.

"This is one of the only buildings on the island that is remotely habitable. They were all wrecks to begin with, but I had some work done with this one."

He held the door open for her, "You can spend the night here. The kitchen's stocked up, you'll have everything you need."

"So what? You're not coming in?"

"Give me time to process all this. I'll see you tomorrow."

Liz looked somewhat disappointed, "Alright, tomorrow."

Without another word, Silva turned on his heel and walked back down the hallway and into the elevator. Liz smiled as she caught one last glimpse of his face before the doors slid closed and the lift descended to ground level, then entered the small apartment and locked the door.

**_A/N_**_: To begin this long note, I'd like to say that I'm not overly happy with how this chapter came out. It was incredibly hard to write, because whenever I tried to make the reunion sweeter, it was way too fluffy and fluffy Silva is bad. I tried to explain Liz's origins without being too obvious, but in case something is unclear, she was an MI6 agent working with Silva and they were both captured by the Chinese. So basically, what was mentioned in Skyfall + Liz :) _


	3. Chapter 3

The rhythmic clicking of Silva's keyboard was interrupted by a new noise, coming from the end of the large room. The blonde man stopped typing and listened to the clicking of heels steadily approaching from behind him. The sounds ceased, and Silva felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

Liz bent over and placed a kiss on the man's cheek, "Mornin'."

She felt his eyes on her as she pulled up a chair and sat down.

Silva opened his mouth to speak, "Wher-"

"Where'd I get the clothes?" Liz finished, straightening her short beige dress, "I have a boat, you know. Just a quick trip to the mainland early in the morning."

The man sitting next to her didn't say a word. He looked at her pensively, as if trying to detect a lie.

Liz laughed, "You don't trust me. Of course… you think the MI6 sent me. I bet you think I'm here to seduce you and then stab you in the back when you least expect it, don't you?"

"One could never be too careful with you."

"But the least you can you can do is _trust me_," Liz retorted irritably, "I'm telling you the truth."

She mentally scolded herself for whining like a spoiled child that didn't get what it wanted.

"Do you want me to prove myself? Alright, move over."

An appalled look came across Silva's face as Liz dragged her chair closer, pushing him away from the computer, taking his place.

"What are you-"

"Hold on…" Liz mumbled, as she expertly cracked the password on laptop, gaining complete access to everything Silva had to hide, "hah… a gas explosion? You think they'll fall for that?"

"The signal is untraceable."

"Here's hoping," Liz chuckled, as she entered the passcode and pressed enter.

Silva sat up, "What did you just do?"

"I sent the command, saved you the work. I bet if we switch the television on now, we'll be hearing about a terrorist attack any second."

"I had all my actions planned out Liz. You know you could have just absolutely screwed up something I've worked years on perfecting?"

"Yes, I _could have_. But I didn't and you know it."

Silva gave her a questioning look.

"As I mentioned earlier, I have a boat. And you know what else? I had a laptop on that boat. It really wasn't that hard to tune into your system and go over your plans. Which, I must say, are quite ingenious."

"Liz, you just bombed the MI6."

"So? You would have done it anyway."

"They're going to send someone to track me down in a matter of hours, how do you know if-"

"Because I know you well enough to see right through your game. You don't care about the MI6, you want M. So what better way to find her than to be brought to her as a prisoner. You want them to come. You want them to find you and lead you straight to her. You play defeated and then act when her back is turned. It's not that hard to figure you out, Tiago. Good thing you're a decent actor."

Silva gave her an accusing look, but didn't comment.

"So, now, according to your plans, you're going to need bait. Someone to lure whatever agent they send out to your pretty little island. Now, I'd volunteer, but they know me," Liz began heading toward the exit, "so why don't I take another trip to the mainland and find a girl with a pretty face and a sob story about her past to pull on the good old heartstrings. I think I know where to look."

Right before Liz disappeared from view, Silva spoke, "Why do you insist on calling me Tiago?"

The girl turned and gave him an odd look, "No matter what color you dye your hair, your name stays the same. Now that I think about it, you haven't changed a bit. Now, you get to tracking the agent they're sending. I'll see you later."

**_LONG AND IMPORTANTNT A/N:_**_ Okay, before you start throwing sticks at me, I do realize this chapter took me forever to update. Partly because I had to avoid fluffy Silva, which was hard, and partly because I was away for the holidays. Also, I think it would be good to explain that in my head, Liz is the only person who can actually take control of Silva and get him to do what she wants. Technically, she's the dominant one in their relationship, putting it less mildly. I think that in the following chapters, I'm going to start tying in with Skyfall, which is going to be equally tough, seeing as I'll have to cleverly weave Liz into the plot. But I have some ideas, so we're good. I hope you liked the chapter, I'm sorry it was short, I'm sorry it took so long. I'm just so very sorry._


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N:_**_ First things first: this story is killing me, because even though I know __what __I want to write, I don't know __how__ to write it. Therefore, I won't update as much… probably once a week or once every two weeks. If there's someone out there who actually follows this story every step of the way- I apologize. I'm going to finish this fic, though, so don't worry._

"This is Severine," Liz began, motioning to the tall woman standing by the door, "she's going to play the part of the poor, tormented prostitute looking for revenge on her employer. All she has to do is lure Mr…-"

Silva looked up from his computer, "Mr. Bond. James Bond."

"… to lure Mr. Bond to your little island and we're all good."

Silva nodded and turned to the woman, "If you go outside, there's a man waiting to take you to your room. He'll give you your payment and further instructions."

"Alright."

Severine turned and left the hall without another word, shutting the heavy doors behind her.

Liz laughed to herself, "She's such a perfectionist, good lord. Rumor has it is she's brilliant at what she does, though. I bet she can get whoever they send over to fall for her story."

When she received no reply, she glanced over at Silva, who was looking at his computer screen with a slightly troubled expression.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not wrong. Curious, really," Silva replied, pulling up a chair next to him so that Liz could take a seat, "This Bond they're sending out… he's recently had a serious accident. Then he went missing for months, showed up from nowhere and had to retake all his tests. The best part- he failed them all."

Liz's eyes widened, "All of them? And they chose him..?"

"Every last one. But you know what? It's all M's doing," Silva chuckled, "she falsified a version of the results to show this Bond. I'm guessing she trusts him enough to send him out in his current state."

Liz smirked. "Reminds me of someone, don't you think? This one man who was permitted to return to field duty two days after getting shot in the arm. He was always a persistent one."

Silva turned to face her, "So you're saying she found a new favorite?"

Abruptly, he stood and began heading for the door, "Her loss. You know, we should keep our fingers crossed that he survives the men in Shanghai and gets to the casino. We don't want him to lose, now do we?"

Liz got up and followed Silva into the courtyard. The sun had set minutes before and the only light illuminating the area was that of the pale moon. The cool evening air rusted her hair as she picked up her pace to catch up to the blond man.

"Calm down, will you? It'll work out. She wouldn't have sent him if she didn't think he could do it. Severine's off to Shanghai first thing tomorrow morning, your men are already waiting in Macau. It's gonna go according to plan."

Silva stopped in his tracks and sighed deeply, then turned to face the woman.

She looked him in the eye, "Seriously. You'll worry yourself to death. We don't need that."

He shook his head, "I'm not worried about my plan. I know it's foolproof. Except for that one part where the MI6 sends out a barely functioning agent. If he fucks this up, everything falls apart."

Liz took a few steps towards Silva, "He won't screw it up. Why? Because _you_ wouldn't."

The man shot a confused look at her.

"God, Tiago, I know you see the similarities between the two of you. You'd be perfectly capable of finishing the job if you were in Bond's position and you know it. Somewhere deep down you know he won't mess it up."

Silva stared at Liz for a moment and nodded reluctantly, "Fine. You've always had better judgment than me."

"Then you won't say no when I ask you to come over for a drink, right?"

"I could use a drink…"

Liz motioned for Silva to follow her, "Then come on."

_**A/N:**__ I'll keep these chapters short but detailed. The good news is that Bond comes in in the next chapter. Unfortunately I might have to alter James and Silva's first encounter so Liz doesn't get pissed off ;)_


	5. Chapter 5

The door creaked open and Liz slipped inside, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Took you a while to get up," Silva remarked, not bothering to look up from the screen.

Liz glanced at the nearest clock. To her dismay, it was well past noon. "Why didn't you wake me when you got up?" she countered.

Silva looked up at her.

"You looked tired. Seems you can't hold your liquor as well as you used to."

Liz fixed him with a glare while he merely smirked and returned to his computer,

"I can assure you, I'm perfectly fine," Liz retorted, and moved to sit beside the man, "so how's 007 doing?"

"He didn't die in Shanghai. I suppose that can be considered a success. However Patrice went down. Quite literally, too."

With a few clicks, Silva opened the homepage of a local newspaper, "His… body was found at the foot of the building we sent him to. Turns out Severine left out the small detail of Bond killing him in her message."

"But that doesn't complicate the plan, it's irrelevant. As long as Bond meets with her in the casino, we're on track."

"Oh, he will. He checked into a hotel in the vicinity of the casino a few hours ago. I've been monitoring him since. I take it he'll wait till nightfall to visit the place."

"So we can expect our man by tomorrow morning. But then he's gonna take you away and leave me here all alone, "she added with an overdid pout.

"You're not staying. Don't forget that's where you come in in the plan, dear."

Silva leaned over to the side of the table and picked up a large white envelope, then handed it to Liz.

"Your flight to London leaves in three hours."

Liz's eyes widened, "I'm perfectly capable of monitoring everything from here. And why the hell would I show my face there? I'm dead, remember?"

"Which is why they won't be looking for you and you'll slip by, unnoticed."

She opened her mouth to complain, but was interrupted. "It's not like I want you to march into headquarters. You'll be sitting in a flat all day, perfectly safe. That is, if you can conceal your signal."

Silva looked up at her, a smile playing on his lips. As he suspected, Liz looked appalled.

"I can assure you, I could out-hack you without trying, Tiago."

"But what you can't do is spot a joke. I'm playing with you, lighten up."

"Maybe that's because you never joke around," Liz shot back and got up from her seat, "I'll go pack my things."

"What does it take to get a smile from you?"

Liz turned to him and flashed a sarcastic smile. "It's a serious situation, we can laugh later."

She was about to open the door and leave, when she heard Silva getting up. She turned around and found herself staring right at him.

"You had no problem laughing last night," he teased.

"You said it yourself, I was drunk," Liz retorted, her face displaying no trace of emotion whatsoever.

She began to leave, but Silva grabbed her hand and pulled her into a kiss.

After her initial surprise wore off, she returned the kiss, wrapping her hand around his neck. A few long moments passed before they broke apart.

He looked her in the eyes, "Don't be angry with me, Liz. I need you in London."

She gave him a small, yet genuine smile. "I'll go pack, then."

**_A/N:_**_ There will come a day when I will write smut. That day is not today (or any day in the near future). Now that I think about it, we have no more than 5 chapters until the end. And boy, do I have a terrible ending planned. To be honest, I planned the ending before I came up with the plot, so everything I wrote, I wrote with the last chapter in mind._

_To everyone who favorited and commented- I love you and thank you for your support :)_


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N: _**_Guys, I have some news. After this, there are 2 chapters left. All of these will be (hopefully) longer than the earlier ones. I have most of it planned out already… *cackles*_

_Enjoy…_

Liz reached out for her third cup of coffee. Ever since she'd entered the London flat and arranged her supplies, she couldn't stop worrying that something went wrong with Silva's half of the plan. For all she knew, Bond might have not played along, and killed the man on the spot.

She squeezed her eyes shut. _You're being paranoid, Liz._ After all, she had picked up three helicopter signals on the island hours before. Seeing as Silva didn't own any, the only logical explanation was the MI6 dropping in to pick him up.

Liz leaned back into the sofa and lifted the cup to her lips. Before she could take a sip, her computer screen lit up, alerting her of a signal. She quickly put the mug away and focused on getting past the MI6's firewall. She hacked the codes without any problems and entered the system, gaining full access to whatever information they had on Silva already. She searched for a trace of anything, only to find that the latest files were encrypted with a stronger safety protocol. A few minutes passed before she broke the codes and found what she needed. Silva had arrived there a little over half an hour ago. _Shit._

Liz was late. She'd been told to monitor their actions from the start.

She quickly got past the Q-branch security line and quickly scanned over the data they had already retrieved from his computer.

To her relief, Q was only interested in the most encrypted file, which thankfully, was the one she wanted him to open. Leaving Q's progress tracker open in one window, she tracked M's whereabouts. Just as planned, the older woman was on her way to the inquiry. Focusing on Q again, she noticed he had trouble getting past the highest level coding. Liz raised an eyebrow, surprised by the amount of time it took the agent.

Suddenly, the file unraveled itself before him, displaying a map of underground London. Liz sat up and got ready to activate the virus. She regretted not having gained access to the security cameras in the Q-branch to see their reactions. She playfully counted down from 5 in her head and sent the command.

And just as planned, a security breach alert danced brightly on Q's computer in a matter of seconds. She wired into the security mainframe and listened in on the commotion.

"What's going on? Why are the doors open?"

Liz smiled inwardly as she heard frantic footsteps leaving the room. _Took them a while to figure that one out. _

She quickly got up and grabbed her necessary belongings, throwing them into her bag. She made sure her earpiece was intact and working properly. Everything was going smoothly. Silva had escaped and Liz could hear Q muttering swear words. He had probably received the private message Silva had programmed.

Liz left the flat, locking it behind her. She made her way downstairs, into the garage, where a police van was waiting for her. She quickly got into the driver's seat and curtly greeted the two men in uniform sitting in the back seat.

After a moment of silence, one of them spoke up.

"So, what are we waiting for, ma'am?"

Liz sighed.

"We have to be sure there's no change in the plan. I'm waiting for further instructions."

She started the engine and waited.

Not a minute passed before she heard static in her earpiece. She sat up.

"You there?"

After some more rustling, she heard Silva's voice, "Nothing's changed. Be in front of the station in ten minutes."

Liz stepped on the gas and the car swerved out of the garage and onto the streets. Taking a shortcut, she made it to her destination with plenty of time to spare. Her vehicle blended in perfectly with the rest of the police cars that were arriving at the scene one by one. Liz figured Silva went ahead and blew the tunnel, creating a perfect distraction. As she was observing the terrified crowd forming gradually at the site, the passenger door opened. She whirled around and found herself facing Silva, who was too disguised as a police officer.

"Off we go, then."

Liz navigated through the streets of London as Silva made sure the men in the backseat knew exactly what they were to do. When they were nearing the building in which the inquiry was being held, Silva loaded his gun and turned to Liz.

"You stay in the car."

She stopped the car by the entrance.

"I'm waiting out back."

She watched Silva and the two men exit the vehicle and head towards the building. Once they disappeared from sight, she drove the car to the shady parking lot and leaned back into her seat, audibly exhaling. She kept the engine running to ensure a quick getaway from the soon to be scene of the crime.

Minutes passed and Liz grew worried. Something had to have gone wrong in the inquiry hall. The execution was meant to be one quick shot, which would have taken a relatively shorter amount of time than had already passed.

As if on cue, Silva walked out of the back door, looking distressed. Liz sat up, opened the passenger seat door and grasped the steering wheel firmly.

Silva got in the car.

"Drive."

Liz sent him a questioning look, "What abo-"

"Just drive."

She hit the gas and sped out of the parking lot. In her rear view mirror, she caught a glimpse of Bond bursting out of door and frantically looking around.

She turned to the man sitting beside her.

"Wh-"

He interrupted her once again, "Go back to the station. We have to switch cars. Then back to the flat you were at."

"What happened? Is she dead?"

When Silva didn't answer, Liz knew better than to push him. After all, he was known to have a short temper, and this really wasn't the best time to have to handle one of his outbursts. But judging by his behavior, Liz knew for certain that the plan had failed.

**_A/N_**_: Shit's gonna go down soon. This is my longest chapter yet (1k+ words)… I'm so proud. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter (while listening to the Skyfall OST, of course), so I hope whoever's reading this enjoyed it._


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N:_**_ I don't know if this is relevant at this point in the story, but my faceclaim for Liz is probably Jessica Chastain with slightly darker hair. I think it's a good fit. Idk, let me know what you guys think about that. So the next chapter is the last one. I got really attached to this story even though it's relatively short… I sort of treat Liz as if she was a real character… she feels real to me, ok (probably because I have her whole life story written up in my head)… Long intro… I should stop._

_Here goes my longest chapter yet._

Liz followed Silva into the apartment and locked the door behind her. She turned to see him staring out the window, facing away from her.

"You have to tell me what happened."

He remained silent.

"She's alive," Liz continued.

It wasn't phrased as a question. She knew the answer well enough. She also knew better than to push him. The only way to get any information was to wait until he gave it to her.

She put her bag down on the ground and remained standing by the door.

"So you got there and what? Bond was there. What'd he do?"

Liz was about to leave to the room when Silva spoke up.

"I didn't kill her."

"What happened?"

"I don't know! I couldn't pull the damn trigger! I just couldn't!"

He turned around and walked past Liz, into the kitchen. She followed him inside.

"Wait, so you… what, voluntarily chose not to kill her?"

He turned to face her, "No! I wanted to. But I hesitated. I don't know why, but when I made up my mind, it was too late."

"Meaning Bond came?"

"I was outnumbered to begin with. It got out of control, I had to get out of there."

"I know. But it's fine, she's still out there, you can still get her."

"I just need a few years to plan my next move, it's perfectly alright."

"Then don't wait."

Liz walked back into the hall, where she had left her bag. She leaned down, retrieved her laptop and walked back into the kitchen, setting up on the table. Silva watched as she searched for anything that could lead them to M.

"The trace ends at some point. They had to have switched cars, the signal stops in the middle of nowhere. Some tunnel in the suburbs."

"Then track the other car."

"It's not registered. Not a company car."

Silva pushed off the counter and sat down across from her. "Show me."

Liz turned the laptop around and handed it to him. She drummed her fingers on the table as she waited for a response.

Silva furrowed his brows as he continued typing.

"You have something?"

"Something…."

She got up and walked around the table and leaned over Silva's shoulder to get a look at the screen.

"There's a signal, but it's hard to trace."

"How'd you pick that up?" Liz asked, a look of surprise evident on her face.

Silva chuckled to himself, "I thought you said you knew everything I knew and more?"

"Oh, shut up. Can you track it?"

"Of course _I_ can."

Liz straightened up, "If poking fun of me makes you feel better, have it your way. I'll go take a shower."

"Alright. I'll be there in a minute."

"Very funny. You focus on locating that car."

"That'll only take me a few minutes."

"Then arrange the whole attack before I return. How's that for a challenge?"

…

Liz emerged from the small bathroom only a few minutes later, wrapped in a towel.

"So, did you finish?" she called out, running a brush through her dark wet hair. When she didn't receive a response, she carefully checked the rooms, and to her disbelief, Silva was nowhere to be found.

Liz went over to the small suitcase she had brought along, pulled out jeans and a black shirt and quickly put them on. On her way to the kitchen, she picked her phone up from the bedside table and began dialing Silva's number, fully intending on yelling at him for leaving the apartment without so much as a note to tell her where he had gone. Upon entering the kitchen, she saw a single folder lying on the counter. Her finger hovered over the call button for a moment before she pocketed her phone and walked over to the folder. She picked it up and leaned against the counter. The folder contained countless sheets of paper with unintelligible notes scribbled all over them. Liz flipped though the numerous pages until she reached the last one, which was carefully and neatly written, clearly meant to stand out.

_"Parking lot at 6._

_Bring a jacket. The nights get cold in Scotland."_

Liz's eyes widened at the last word. Shaking out of her initial surprise, she closed the folder and dropped it onto the kitchen table and rushed back to the bathroom to dry her hair.

Once she was finished, she took a quick glance at the clock and let out an involuntary groan when she saw she only had 15 minutes to arrive at the designated meeting place.

After hurriedly taking care of everything she had to do, Liz headed towards the door, grabbing her black leather jacket from the hook by the door. She locked the door behind her and sprinted down the stairs, deciding that waiting for the elevator would be a waste of time.

The cool afternoon air blew refreshingly as Liz pushed open the lobby door and exited the building. She made a right turn, heading for the parking lot that was located behind the main building. She checked the time on her phone and quickened her pace, not wanting to be late. Not only was she a perfectionist, but she figured it'd be better not to irritate Silva in his current frustrated state.

She made another turn and the apartment building's relatively small parking lot appeared in front of her eyes. Just as she expected, a car was waiting for her. Liz adjusted her bag and hopped into the vacant passenger's seat. Before she had a chance to properly shut the door the car began moving at an incredible speed, swerving sharply as Silva pulled out of the parking lot and onto the thankfully empty street.

Liz turned to face the driver, "No offense, but I had a little trouble deciphering your hieroglyphs. What's the genius plan?"

"There's nothing genius about it. We get there and get the job done," Silva replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

"We get where?"

"Did you read the note, Liz?"

"Scotland, I get it. But where exactly?"

Silva laughed to himself. "Remember Mr. Bond's evaluation results and that childhood trauma they mentioned? We're heading right towards the source of all that."

"His home?" Liz asked incredulously, "That's too obvious."

"Not if Skyfall mansion's an old abandoned wreck and Bond hasn't laid a foot there since his parents died years ago. The place dropped off the grid and wasn't heard of since."

When Liz didn't respond, Silva continued explaining his plan.

"The place is in the middle of nowhere, so that gives us a bit of an advantage, wouldn't you say?"

"It gives_ him_ the advantage. He'll see us coming."

"I sent a dozen men out there to throw them off, so by the time we get there, they'll be defenseless."

"I'm sorry, how do you intend on getting to_ Scotland_ so soon?" Liz questioned, once again flipping through the scribbled notes Silva had left on the kitchen counter.

Before she heard a reply, the car stopped abruptly. Liz looked up from the papers and she let out a forced laugh when she realized where they were.

Silva exited the car before Liz had a chance to comment. She stepped out of the vehicle and pulled her jacket tighter around her. The wind had become colder as the day ended. She pushed her hair out of her face and turned to Silva, who was already walking away from the car.

Liz caught up to him in a matter of moments.

"We're flying?" she asked, not really expecting to hear a reply. They had parked in the middle of an airfield, which was nearly empty except for one military helicopter waiting in the far corner of the field. As they approached it, Liz could see a few figures gathered around it, making sure everything was intact.

"I take it all this was in your… notes," Liz mumbled, thinking about the amount of things Silva had so carefully planned in a matter of minutes.

The man laughed to himself, "Not what you expected?"

"I expected nothing less from you."

When they finally reached the helicopter, Silva approached the man who had been in charge of arranging the crew of the aircraft and made sure every detail had been taken care of. Once they finished talking, he returned to Liz.

"So when are we taking off?" Liz asked, watching the armed men file into the helicopter one by one.

"Whenever you're ready."

Liz peeled her eyes away from the men and stared disbelievingly at Silva. "_Me_? You want me to-"

"You've always been the best at this sort of thing," he replied with a smirk.

"Liz returned the smile, unable to hide her excitement, "I'm starting to like this plan of yours."

Without so much as another word Liz boarded the helicopter, taking her place in the pilot's seat. Having made sure everything was intact, she lifted the aircraft off the ground.

**_A/N:_**_ Nearly 2,000 words- so more than 3 times the usual length of my chapters. I hope whoever's reading this will forgive me for the late update. _

_Also, fair warning, the next update might take a while, seeing as the next (and last) chapter will be really difficult to write. I know what's going to happen, but I have no idea to put it into words. _

_Here's a tip- the more reviews I get, the more likely I am to sit down and finish this fic faster._

_Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed :)_


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